Online store

On January 1^st of this year, there were just over 101 thousand active online stores in the Netherlands. This means that the amount of online stores has more than tripled there in the last decade. Additionally, the amount of SMEs in this sector grew 252 percent during that period.

Online net sales in Sweden reached 11.75 billion euros last year. This is a slight decrease, of 2 percent, compared to a year earlier when net sales reached 12 billion euros. However, it seems that annual net sales in the country are stabilizing.

At least 70 percent of small and medium sized business owners in Europe admit to lacking the confidence needed to scale their business in the digital realm. A large group of them needs help in optimizing their logistics, while others need assistance in VAT and customs compliance.

After two years, Mango has stopped selling other brands on its own marketplace. The Spanish fashion retailer had been offering products from brands like Rituals through its own channels. This decision comes after Mango recorded an online sales growth close to 10 percent during the first half of 2023.

Online-only supermarket Picnic is expanding its product range with the help of Edeka, a German chain of supermarkets. It is adding drugstore items and wants to become a drugstore in Germany. The complete drugstore segment will be up and running by the end of this year.

Action, the discount retailer from the Netherlands, is launching its online store in Belgium. The online shop is available in Dutch and French. Action will offer around 150 products. The product range mostly consists of large items such as garden furniture.

After red numbers in the first and second quarter, Dutch marketplace Bol.com made 1,2 billion euros in revenue in Q3. That is an increase of 5,6 percent. This is mostly thanks to its 51.000 third-party sellers, who account for nearly 60 percent of sales.

Last year, Belgian trade association BeCommerce launched a project called Ezyshop. At least 2,140 companies signed up to receive individual coaching sessions. According to the organization, Belgian retailers need extra support and the government should help.

Carrefour’s online shop in Belgium is getting a software system redesign. As a result, the product offer has been reduced. This can last until the beginning of next year, the company says.

H&M is bouncing back from the pandemic: in 2021 the fashion retailer made 1,36 billion euros in pre-tax profits - a sixfold increase compared to the year before. Their online branch remains strong, though, growing 30 percent in the past year.

The vast majority (94 percent) of the most popular ecommerce websites in Europe have five or more errors on their checkout pages. Meanwhile, 21 percent of European consumers abandon a purchase if the checkout takes longer than one minute.

Charity shops in the United Kingdom are looking more and more at ecommerce after losing thousands of euros of income during the lockdowns. The number of items sold online by British charity shops has increased by 151 percent between February and July of this year.

Subscription box services are becoming increasingly popular in the United Kingdom. Driven by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns more and more Brits have signed up for one or more subscription box services.

Last year, 6.4 percent of all ecommerce revenue in Germany was generated via click & collect solutions in physical stores. But these revenue was not equally distributed across different product categories. Consumer electronics represent the biggest click & collect segment, with a revenue share of 27 percent.

Next month, Kaufland will officially enter the world of ecommerce. For the first time, the German hypermarket chain will be visible as a new operator on the previous online marketplace of Real, the company it acquired in June last year.